TWO North-East men fell 80ft to their deaths from a motorway bridge after wind blew their gantry, an inquest heard yesterday.

Paul Stewart, 23, from Newcastle, and Andrew Rodgers, 40, of Middlesbrough, plunged to the ground from the gantry, which was suspended under a bridge on the M5 near Bristol.

The men died from multiple injuries in September 1999 along with Ronald Hill, 38, of Glasgow, and Jeffrey Williams, 42, of Newport.

They had been employed by Darlington firm Kvaerner Cleveland Bridge UK Limited, now known as Yarm Road Limited, and Costain to carry out strengthening work.

In April, relatives of the men were awarded £1.3m compensation from the two firms, which, in December 2001, had been fined £500,000 between them and ordered to pay £525,000 costs for breach of health and safety regulations.

An inquest into the deaths opened in Bristol yesterday, where the jury heard how wind blew the gantry along the beams under the bridge, detaching one end so the platform was hanging down.

The gantry's brakes were not enough to stop it being blown along the beam.

Health and Safety inspector Roger Jones showed the jury a computer-generated simulation of what had happened.

He said: ''I conclude that the men operating the temporary gantry did nothing wrong and there were no apparent defects which would have contributed to the accident."

But he said the gantry had been blown up a 0.9 degree slope on the bridge, and brakes that were "not reliable enough" failed to stop it.

Mr Jones said there was nothing to stop the trolleys running off the end of the runway beams.

The gantry was moved along the beams manually, and he said there had been training given, which some employees said they had not received, and some were unaware of wind speed risks.

Peter Mercer told coroner Brian Whitehouse he was contracted to audit the gantries the week before the accident.

On September 1, 1999, he inspected the gantry. He said: "I would not have worked on it."

He said four "turfers", which moved and restrained the gantry, should have been used on the platform, but only one was used.

Health and Safety inspector Peter Swift said beam clamps, designed for lifting, were used as brakes.

He said they were unsuitable as a restraint.

The hearing continues.